From The Conservation Chair
Sierra Club Ohio (SCO) has remained active in conservation actions during the past two years much thanks to the SCO staff members. With over 20,000 members in Ohio, making us the largest environmental organization in Ohio, Sierra Club can have a large positive effect on our state’s environment through the collective actions of our members (volunteers). While numbers are great, such numbers also need organization to better bring actions to bear and have as much an effect as is possible. This is the first of several articles (months to come) to introduce you to the updated Conservation Committee (ConsCom).
The ConsCom will be a slimmer version than ConsComs of the past here in Ohio. Key volunteer positions will include Issues Chairs for Water, Energy, Land and Legislation committees along with the ConsCom Chair and a staff member as designated by the Director of SCO. Each of the four Issues Committees will in turn be comprised of their own subcommittees. As Sierra Club Ohio volunteers return to a more active engagement in Ohio’s environmental issues we anticipate that we will not be able to address all possible issues, at least in the near future. The four Issues Committees will address, for now, the following issues:
- Water: Lake Erie Watershed, Ohio River Watershed, Drinking Water
- Energy: Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, Ready for 100
- Land: Transportation, Plastics, Public Lands, Infrastructure, Urban Issues/Urban Infill, Urban Forestry (separate from UI/UI)
- Legislation will not have subcommittees
Such an organization will allow the issues committees to collaborate more within the committee allowing both the ConsCom and the issues committees flexibility and the opportunity for more and deeper engagement of our volunteer members. Integral to this will be our adoption of the network concept, a method already being used by several chapters. In the absence of a full slate of groups, networks will allow volunteers and staff to work together on issues that cover a wide geographic area such as, for example, the Lake Erie Watershed. Many of the sub-watersheds in the Lake Erie Watershed have similar issues while yet being different. Within a network common issues and actions can be discussed and planned for while it can also allow members to discuss issues specific to their sub-watershed with others who may have ideas of value for that watershed. This concept also allows groups to easily fit in as well as open many leadership opportunities for members across the state.
As we move ahead with this reorganization of SCO’s ConsCom we are also incorporating environmental justice in our actions on all issues. ConsCom will work with SCO’s environmental and social justice committee to identify environmental justice needs and opportunities to work on them. At the same time we will seek opportunities to collaborate with other organizations which either focus on or include environmental justice as a mission.
A future discussion is that of volunteer leadership for the Issues Committees and the subcommittees. While we’re not yet soliciting applications we do encourage you to think about it or talk with fellow members of the Sierra Club who you think might make good volunteer leaders.